03 July 2017

The Good Kind of Progress

There is no end to the amount of wisdom you can find in nature. Every moment I spend in the company of birds and trees, with my feet on the ground beneath me, is a moment that brings me more wisdom that can not be found in a book or on any website in the cyber world.

I have probably spent more time on this trail so far this year than any year in my life. I don't always go the whole way to the top, and most of the time I take the "less steep" part of the trail that comes around the back of the rock face since it's easier for my dog, but regardless, I feel accomplished every single time. My body thanks me every single time. My mind thanks me every single time.

Because the reward is in the doing. It's in the getting out there on the trail even when it's 90 degrees outside. It's pushing myself when it would be just as easy to say "oh it's been a long day, I'll just take a break today and get back out tomorrow." It's getting out there on the trail when you only have 20 minutes before the sun begins its' descent and the park closes because it was a terribly long and tough day and those 20 minutes are exactly what you need to find calm.

Because if you don't get out there today, you will be less likely to get out there tomorrow too. And that's not progress.

Tonight, when I closed in on the switchbacks on the less steep part, I realized that I didn't stop even once to sit down and rest. I continued on the rest of the way, to the top of the rocks, without stopping to rest at all, and then proceeded down without sitting to rest. Just a few short weeks ago I was still frustrated over a lack of energy and shin splints that seemed to continue to discourage me even though I was incorporating more movement into every day. I wondered when the fuck I was going to start seeing some real results. It had been a month; certainly I should have felt more energy by then.

Tonight, the Universe rewarded me with proof of real progress, and for that I am even more motivated and thankful.